The Name Game
by Sailing in a lavender ship
Summary: Joe and Francoise are picking out names for their daughter. One-shot.


A/N: This is a little one-shot on how Joe and Françoise picked out their daughter's name. I don't really think it's that creative, but hey…By the way, "fille" means daughter, or girl, in French. And that little snippet about Jet choosing the name Palmira? Well, he marries Cathy and the two of them have a daughter of their own together, which they name Palmira. Enjoy!

The couple sat on the couch, with Françoise leaning against Joe's shoulder as they viewed the television screen before them. There was no sound emitting from it, nor were either of them paying really any attention. But it gave them an excuse to have the living room to themselves for the evening.

Françoise lowered one hand to her swollen stomach, thinking.

"What about Estelle?" she asked her husband. Joe turned his head to face her, taking his eyes of the screen in front of them.

"I don't know…" he mumbled. "What about Keiko?" the French women leaning against him sighed. They were heading towards the same conversation that the two had been sharing for the past week. But it always seemed to be getting them no where no matter how many times they exchanged names.

Ever since Françoise had announced she was pregnant, everyone wanted to give their own words of advice. With each new day brought new baby names, advice on feeding, ect. And then she had to deal with everyone treating her more like a porcelain doll than ever. One morning Jet wouldn't even let her do the grocery shopping and volunteered to do it him self. And when she came down with a slight cold when the weather outside had gotten nasty, Joe wouldn't leave her sight. He lay in bed with her all day.

Of course, he did that any time she was sick. Whether she was carrying his child or not.

But she knew that she really was grateful for it. Joe and Françoise knew that their daughter would never be alone with seven uncles to spoil her. With so many cultural backgrounds blending in together in one household, she often wondered how her daughter would handle it growing up.

At least they knew that they would never be short of a babysitter.

She was grateful for the advice, really. But at times it could get extremely over whelming.

"We could always name her after your mother…" Joe said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. Françoise giggled at her husband's remark.

"Colette?" she shook her head. "I don't think so. She'd never function in a Japanese society with a name like that." Joe understood, though the remark was obviously made out as a joke. Just then, both heads whipped around at the sound of foot steps arriving on the porch.

"Are you two done making out yet? I want to catch the weather before I fly back to New York tomorrow." Jet spoke to the two sitting on the couch as he walked in through the front door. He grinned down at them. "Aren't you guys gonna miss me?" The couple smiled back at him.

"Of course we will!" Françoise replied back at him. But Jet just shrugged it off and walked towards the room he would be occupying for the last night, and shut the door.

What was the name that Jet had purposed? It was an Italian one, of course. _Palmira. _Apparently it was the name of his aunt that held a grudge against his parents for immigrating to America. He also mentioned Marcellina, but Françoise told him she was not going to name her daughter after a Roman god.

The French smiled to her self mentally as she recalled hearing this, because when she thought about it she started to remember all the other names that the rest of the team had thrown at her.

Albert had wanted Heidi, Chang said **Mei ling**, and G.B. wouldn't let Titania leave their minds. And when Françoise noticed the list of names she had been keeping was beginning to become a little too… over crowded, she knew she would have to stop listening to everyone's advice. And leave it up to her and Joe.

When she and Natalie were young girls, they would always play with their dolls together. It was fun _pretending _to be a mother. But Françoise didn't know how the real thing was actually going to be.

Of course, she had plenty of experience with Ivan. But for some reason holding her _own _child would be a bit different. She gazed back down at the child she was carrying inside of her and smiled. Their little _fille. _

She had found her self lying down, with her head on her husband's lap. Joe had his fingers playing with her golden hair subconsciously, thinking to him self. Finally, he spoke up.

"I know that if we don't pick out a name soon, you'll start going into labor and it will be too late." Françoise smiled sweetly up at him.

"I think I have an idea." She whispered. Joe's eyebrows rose.

"Oh, really?" The women nodded.

"Well…I was thinking we should name her after my best friend." Joe's face lit up. He bent down to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. Natalie, he could still recall when Françoise explained to him the horrors she had felt during her one night in Paris on Christmas, had been a ballet dancer like her. Together, they had danced their way through the years.

Until Françoise disappeared.

Now almost fifty years later, they both knew it was the perfect way to honor her. The best friend she never got to say goodbye to.


End file.
